OCA trims disciplines to 35 from 42 from 2014 Asian Games

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has decided to trim the number of Asian Games disciplines from 42 to 35 from the 2014 Games at Incheon in South Korea.

At its 28th Annual General Assembly held in Singapore, OCA decided that the 35 disciplines will comprise 28 Olympic and seven non-Olympic events.

'This decision will come into effect from the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon in Korea,' OCA general secretary Randhir Singh said in a statement Saturday.

The seven non-Olympic sports will have to be chosen from the list of 10 sports drawn up by the OCA to reflect the diverse sporting culture of Asia.

'The events will be chosen by the OCA in consultation with the Games host,' Singh added.

The decision to reduce the number of events was taken at a time when organisers in Incheon were thinking of increasing the number to 46 or 48 after receiving applications from sports federations wanting to be part of the Games.

'But the OCA decided that the Games had grown too big and would feature a maximum of seven sports outside the Olympic schedule, enabling five zones to be represented by at least one sport and still leaving two in place,' Singh said.

The general assembly also approved the new cycle of OCA events. The Asian Games will be held one year before the summer Olympics instead of two from 2019.